Mikhail Khodorkovsky is to be freed. After more than a decade dumped in the gulag for daring to challenge Vladimir Putin’s authority, the former head of the Yukos oil company is to be granted a presidential pardon. It would be a mistake to see this as change of heart in the Kremlin. More likely, as with the amnesty proposed for jailed Greenpeace activists and the Pussy Riot female punk band, it was the calculated gesture of an autocrat who sees advantage in occasional acts of supposed generosity.
米哈伊尔•霍多尔科夫斯基(Mikhail Khodorkovsky)即将获释（据最新消息，霍多尔科夫斯基已获释并前往德国——译者注）。这位尤科斯(Yukos)石油公司前老板由于胆敢挑战弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)的权威而身陷囹圄逾10年，如今获得总统特赦。如果因此以为克里姆林宫已回心转意，那可想错了。更大的可能是，和赦免被关押的绿色和平组织(Greenpeace)活动人士和Pussy Riot女子朋克乐队的提议一样，这是一个威权者经过精心盘算而摆出的姿态。这位威权者认识到，偶尔做出一些貌似大度的动作是有好处的。